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Actaea rubra
Also called Western red baneberry, Baneberry, Snakeberry, Western Baneberry
Red baneberry is a native perennial woodland herb of North America, grown in shade gardens for its bright red berries and clump-forming habit. Keep it in cool, moist shade and treat every part of it as poisonous.
Actaea rubra, the red baneberry or chinaberry, is a poisonous herbaceous flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to North America.
All parts of the plant are poisonous. However, accidental poisoning is not likely since the berries are extremely bitter.
The berries are the most toxic part of the plant. A healthy adult will experience poisoning from as few as six berries. Ingestion of the berries causes nausea, dizziness, increased pulse and severe gastrointestinal discomfort. The toxins can also have an immediate sedative effect on the cardiac muscle tissue possibly leading to cardiac arrest if introduced into the bloodstream. As few as two berries may be fatal to a child.
They are found growing in shady areas with moist to wet soils, open forest or dry slopes in much of North America except for Greenland, Nunavut, Mexico, Texas, and the south-eastern United States. In Alaska it ranges from the Kenai Peninsula, through Kodiak Island, Bristol Bay, and up the Yukon River.
This plant is grown in shade gardens for its attractive berries and upright clump forming habit.
Jejudo Bugbane · Actaea matsumurae · White baneberry · Black cohosh · Actaea simplex · Baneberry
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Actaea rubra by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
